Jury Convicts Man Of Killing Sheriff's Deputy
CROOKSTON, M.N. (AP) -- A jury found a 34-year-old Minnesota man guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting of Mahnomen County sheriff's deputy Chris Dewey.
The Grand Forks Herald reports jurors deliberated for about nine hours Wednesday and Thursday before convicting Thomas Lee Fairbanks.
The murder charge carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors asked state District Judge Jeff Remick to sentence Fairbanks immediately but defense attorneys asked for time to file an appeal.
Deputy Dewey was shot in the head and abdomen Feb. 18, 2009, while investigating a report of a drunken driver in Mahnomen. The deputy died last year of his injuries.
Fairbanks acknowledged he shot the deputy but said he was drunk and feared for his own life.
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